Sharon Burney is the right choice to be the justice of the peace for this pizza slice-shaped district, extending south from Midtown to Missouri City. The reason is simple: Burney is currently the only licensed lawyer in the race. Law doesn't require that justices of the peace be attorneys, but voters should demand it nonetheless.

Opponent DC Caldwell, a former teacher, expects to complete his course work at Thurgood Marshall School of Law in December 2018.

Burney has mostly practiced probate law for the last ten years. Burney's mother is the current the justice of peace, and Caldwell, 33, told us that one reason he's thrown his hat into the ring for his fourth try at political office is that he believes "this should be an election not a coronation."

While we agree with Caldwell in principle, Burney did emerge victorious from a hotly contested primary. If elected, Burney, also a Thurgood Marshall graduate, said she wants to work with Harris County to keep the office's computers running after 4:30 and to draw on volunteers from the law schools to help provide legal representation to litigants in this "people's court." Burney has the calm demeanor needed in this court, which will require her full attention, and she shouldn't let herself be distracted by a side private legal practice.